New York – Jamaican born Ben Johnson who enjoyed a high-profile athletics career during the 1980s, winning two Olympic bronze medals and an Olympic gold for Canada (which was subsequently rescinded) has accepted an invitation to be a panelist at the inaugural CLM TV Sports Symposium to be held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York on Thursday May 27, 2010.
Johnson who like Usain “Lighting” Bolt hails from Trelawney, Jamaica set consecutive 100 meters world records at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics. His rise to prominence started at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Australia where he won two silver medals. Two years later at the Los Angeles Games, he won the 100m bronze medal behind Carl Lewis with a time of 10.22. A year later he finally whipped his arc rival at the 1986 Goodwill Games, where he ran 9.95. He also won Commonwealth gold at the 1986 games beating Linford Christie in the 100 m and later broke the seven-year old world record in the 60 meters with a time of 6.50 seconds. By the time of the 1987 World Championships, Johnson had established himself as the fastest man on the planet.
In Rome, he garnered instant world fame when he beat Lewis in a world record 9.83 seconds. That year he was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year for 1987 and was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. A year later he beat Lewis again in the 100m final at the Olympics, lowering his own world record to 9.79 seconds. He was later stripped of the medal and banned from Olympic competition for two years.
Ben Johnson
“The truth is I have been out of the limelight for a very long time. Many years have passed…Some may have thought I was the only one who took performance enhancing drugs. The time has come to speak the truth about my career and to set the record straight about what happened” he said.
While Johnson has kept out of the glare of the spotlight, he has quietly been building his own empire. Today he is the President and CEO of The Ben Johnson Collection Ltd., a successful Canadian sportswear and casual line of athletic clothing and running shoes. He will launch his autobiography “Seoul to Soul” later this year and is still involved with athletics offering a vigorous personal training program at York University in Toronto. He also enjoys volunteer work and derives satisfaction from working with children’s charities.
Other confirmed panelists at the Symposium are Teddy McCook, Executive of the Jamaica Olympic Association & regional IAAF representative; Olympians Raymond Stewart & Grace Jackson; Devon Harris, a member of Jamaica’s original Bobsled Team, TV sports analysis and President of MVP Track Club, home of Olympic champions Shelly Ann-Frasier, Bridgette Foster-Hylton and former world record holder Asafa Powell. The Sports Symposium will discuss issues relating to ‘The Legacy of the Beijing Olympics and the World Championship,’ brand Jamaica and sports tourism. Segments of the symposium will be aired live online at www.caribbeanlifestyletv.com. The symposium is sponsored in part by LIME, formerly Cable & Wireless, Jamaica; The Door Restaurant; XOOM.com; Grace Foods; Vernon & Associates and the Schomburg Center.
